Dr. Aslam Abdullah is editor-in-Chief of the Muslim Observer and the director
of the Islamic Society of Nevada as well as the director of the Muslim
Electorates Council of America.

Should Muslims support Catholics demanding a ban on Da Vinci Code movie? Or
should they stay neutral? Well, some Muslim leaders in India and Canada have
already issued religious decrees seeking a ban on the movie. In fact, a few
Muslim leaders from Bombay went even further threatening violent demonstrations
if the movie was released.

What is Da Vinci code and why should one take it seriously even though it is
a book of fiction. The issue at hand is not the literary style and the
descriptive narratives or the mystery it weaves around its characters, it is the
distortion of some of the historical facts around the character of Prophet Jesus
(peace be upon him - ), which is at the center of the controversy. The book and
the movie deal with a number of issues related with faith, history and culture.
They definitely erode the foundations of faith for both protestants and
Catholics as they present Jesus in a manner that an average Christian is not
familiar with.

From the perspectives of Muslims, some of the assumptions reinforce their own
religious views on Jesus , while the others are contrary to Islamic beliefs.

For instance, on four issues, Da Vinci code essentially presents a view point
similar to that one finds in the Quran as well as in Muslim history. The book
and the movie assert that Jesus was not viewed as God until the fourth century.
Muslim historians concur with that assertion. The movie highlights the role of
emperor Constantine in projecting Jesus as God and Muslims agree with that
analysis. The movie suggests that the Roman emperor unified Christians on the
divinity of Jesus and forced a version of New Testament upon them that suited
this ideology. Muslimsí view is slightly different. They argue that it was the
split within the Church that caused this issue to dominate the Christian scene
and priests rather than politicians influenced the decision of the Roman
emperor. The final point on which both Muslim and the author of the book agree
is that the message of Jesus was distorted to suit the will of Emperor of Rome
and his supporters.

However, when the movie talks about the character of Prophet Jesus, Muslim
viewpoint does not agree with the views of the author. Muslims support
Christians claim that the movie distorts the figure of Prophet Jesus . The movie
shows that Jesus and Mary Magdelene married secretly. Muslims do not agree with
this assertion and believe that even if he did it would not diminish his
character. The movie further says that the two had a daughter whose name was
Sarah and whose progeny still survives in Europe. Muslims reject this claim as
well.

The argument is simple. Those who are revered by billions of people all over
the world can not be subject to fictional distortions. Religious figures should
be spared from harsh criticism by those who rely only on selected and subjective
sources.

The movie also asserts that the Catholic church is involved in murders and
assassinations of those who knew of this secret and wanted to expose it.
Obviously, it is an assertion that exists in the imagination of the author. The
second issue is that the Church is aware of the truth and is deliberately trying
to cover it up. Both assumptions are based on fiction and both are meant to
create more confusion.

The film and the book supporters present the first amendment in support of
their work. In their zeal of freedom of speech they fail to recognize that
freedom does not give them a license to assassinate the character of religious
icons. The movie is promoting fictional falsehood about the character of Jesus .

We hope that the true nature and mission of Jesus will bring the essence of
the Lord of all Creation into our lives.